


Runnin' so fast and we never look back

by sunflow_rs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Coming Out, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Post-Hogwarts, Pre-Relationship, Sad, Second War with Voldemort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 10:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16617431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflow_rs/pseuds/sunflow_rs
Summary: Desperate, his calves burning and his chest heaving, he kept running. He wasn’t sure where but he knew he had to escape, escape from his family and from himself.





	Runnin' so fast and we never look back

Purple pamphlets glared accusingly at Marcus as he ran past them. Desperate, his calves burning and his chest heaving, he kept running. He wasn’t sure where but he knew he had to escape, escape from his family and from himself. 

The pamphlets seemed scream of the threat of death eaters and how he shouldn’t be out by himself. He knew practically word-for-word that the Ministry had written some rubbish on having security questions between friends and family. His parents liked to quote it at the dinner table and laugh about it. Marcus’ eyes burned as he considered his own friends and family - there was no one worth having a security question for anymore.

A tear fell from his eyes, but he just set his brow and continued to run. He wiped a sleeve over his face to catch the salt water, only succeeding in dirtying the dress shirt with blood and sweat. He remembered what his father had told him years ago, when he was a little boy scared about starting Hogwarts and being teased for his teeth. “Don’t cry, son. It makes you seem weak, and men don’t cry.”

Marcus clenched his jaw and stared ahead, eyes clouded over by tears so the road was partially obscured. It didn’t matter whether he cried. He was a pansy, and in his parents’ eyes that was even less of a man than a crier.

“Woah, hey.” A startled voice appeared from the darkness of the night. “Flint?”

Was he even a Flint anymore? That last name seemed to swirl down the drain along with the water, red from the cuts and bruises on his father’s knuckles.

“Flint? Marcus… are you okay?” 

His feet seemed to have stopped running and his breaths were coming in gasps. Hunching over, Marcus struggled to breath. His tears seemed to choke him and memories of the last few hours were suffocating. A hand tentatively held his shoulder and anchored him to reality. Someone had spoken, and Marcus wasn’t sure who. A death eater for all he knew or cared.

“Marcus?” The Scottish accent spoke again. It was Oliver Wood, and his brown eyes were deep with concern. “Let’s go inside, yeah? I don’t know what you’re doing out alone at this time.”

It was Oliver Wood, his nemesis from high school, yet Marcus couldn’t seem to stop himself from following the man into his flat. The door clicked shut behind him, trapping the cold air outside yet the warmth was barely comforting. 

Marcus took a rasping breath and ran a hand through his hair. How could he have let this happen? Why was Oliver fucking Wood actually helping him, and why was there no better alternative?

“Here, I hope you like tea with milk.” Oliver pressed a hot mug into Marcus’ hands and led him to a couch. “You don’t have to tell me what happened because… well I’m me and you’re Marcus Flint, but it may calm you down a bit.”

He nodded, now just feeling numb to the whole ordeal. The tea was nice though, despite being more of a coffee drinker. Somehow just the idea that Oliver had made it for him gave it a pleasant taste.

“I’m gay.” Marcus finally spoke, piercing the silence with the heavy words. “I’m a pansy and my parents found out, at a dinner party nonetheless.”

Oliver seemed shocked for a moment, before recovering quickly. “Oh. I’m so sorry. That’s a horrible thing to have happen.”

“How would you know?” Marcus spat, catching his broken reflection in the warped glass of Oliver’s oven. His grey eyes were sad and simultaneously emotionless, and the skin around one was growing swollen and black. Blood hardened around the wound on his forehead and Oliver’s expression seemed impossibly more worried.

“I don’t know,” replied Oliver. His voice was calm, a juxtaposition to Marcus’ own unnecessarily angry tone. “I don’t know entirely what you’ve been through by being gay, but I know my own parents didn’t take the news too well.”

“Wait.” With his already scattered thoughts and potential concussion, Marcus took a while. “You’re gay?”  
“Yeah.” Oliver gave a sad smile in response. “Anyway, let’s get you cleaned up. You’ve got a nasty cut.”

Marcus thought about refusing and leaving Oliver’s home, but he found himself actually enjoying the Gryffindor’s company. Besides, where could he go? It wasn’t like he had any other options.

“Tergeo.” Oliver spoke, giving his wand a swish and cleaning the blood from Marcus’ face. “Episkey.” The cut closed and faded from harsh red to a pale scar, and the shiner disappeared also.

“Thank you.” Marcus’ voice came out as more of a whisper, but Oliver felt the significance of it regardless of the volume.

“If you wish to you can stay here until you get things worked out.” Oliver’s words and voice contained no evidence of their high school rivalry and for that Marcus was confused yet grateful. “It’s dark times and people need to stick together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is set during The Half Blood Prince so there is potential that this could become a series. Let me know in the comments if you want it to be one and I hope you liked it!


End file.
